


Hunted

by pherryt



Series: Star Trek Bingo [18]
Category: Star Trek
Genre: Fluffy, Games, Hunted, Hurt!Jim, M/M, Multi, bond, taking care of each other, very brief Original Red Shirt Character Tobias Heinz
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-20
Updated: 2019-06-20
Packaged: 2020-05-15 10:37:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19294009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pherryt/pseuds/pherryt
Summary: Jim's not hurtthatbad, so he turns his escape from sickbay into a little game.





	Hunted

**Author's Note:**

> this is for the hunted square
> 
> thought i'd give bones a rest from taking the brunt of things but then this turned out pretty fluffy anyway
> 
> also yes, i had to give heinz, my totally random redshirt who lived, a cameo ;D

Jim ducked around a corner, nearly colliding with Ensign Heinz when he abruptly turned. Heinz froze, his eyes narrowing suddenly.

“Captain – aren’t you supposed to be in sickbay?” Heinz’s voice was too loud, echoing along the corridor and antagonizing the ache in Jim’s head.

“Shhhh!” Jim waved his hands at Heinz, looked behind him and back around the corner carefully, and then darted away, giving Heinz a quelling look on his way past.

The poor security ensign blinked, shook his head and walked on. Jim’s feet carrying him in the other direction soon had them out of sight with each other and once alone in the next corridor over, Jim leaned against the wall and sighed, only the sigh was ruined a bit with his labored breathing.

But he was  _fine_ , dammit. It was just a damn bruise. Nothing for Bones to get all worked up about. Which he was, of course, but there were others hurt worse right now that needed Leonard’s expert attention far more than Jim did.

Of course, when Leonard hadn’t been able to get Jim to head down to Sickbay, he’d sic’d Spock on him, which just wasn’t fair.

The tickling in the back of his head let Jim feel Leonard’s distracted worry – distracted, because he was rightfully giving his skill and attention where it was  _needed_ , and not moving any closer, which meant he wasn’t actively hunting Jim down right now. No, he just employed others to do it  _for_ him.

Which way too many crewmembers seemed to take on gleefully. Especially the bridge crew.

Spock, Jim couldn’t feel at all. Because Spock was a bastard and more skilled at using the bond then his two human spouses. That meant Spock could be  _anywhere_ on the ship and he was cloaking himself, in order to prevent Jim from guessing his location and avoiding him.

Which, really, was the sort of thing Jim would have done if he was able. He was trained to take every tactical advantage a person could in just about any situation and Jim often found himself employing such methods even when he didn’t  _mean_ to, such as in his personal life.  _Some_  folks might say that was unhealthy, especially in a relationship, but it worked for them. It had become a game, of sorts, between the three of them, a way to keep their wits sharp between missions, when even space dragged on.

Of course, right now, that put Jim in a bit of a bind. He ran through the options in his head. Spock would have already checked Jim’s most likely places of hiding since he wasn’t needed on the bridge, and knowing that Jim would be thinking ahead, would also have gone to check the  _least_ likely places. The question was whether Spock was simply cloaking the bond or actively using it like a homing device.

If the former, Jim still had options. If the latter… this little game would be over quicker than he thought. It honestly depended on how worried Spock really was about Jim’s injuries. If Bones was to be believed, Jim shouldn’t ever have left sickbay, and therefore, Spock would use  _any_ means necessary to return Jim into Leonard’s care.

If, however, Bones was just griping because he hated seeing either of them getting hurt, no matter the reason, then Spock would play ‘fair’.

There was really no way to know for sure without opening the bond too much and giving himself completely away, so Jim decided to play as if it were the former.

Because he _wasn’t_ hurt badly.

Honest.

Creeping around another corner, he debated the merits of simply staying on the move. If he didn’t settle in one place, it would make it harder for Spock to suss him out. However, it increased the likelihood that his crew would see him in passing and tattle on him.

That, and breathing was painful. While he can and had done much more than walk with injuries worse than this before, there was no good reason to make things  _worse_.

So, staying put it was. But where? Their quarters were out, and so was the observation deck, the one with the best view of space. None of the rec rooms were a wise choice, surely not empty. The last place most people would check, with Jim being injured, would be the gym, however he was sure Spock would think to look there.

And possibly set up a tripwire to alert him if Jim popped in  _after_  he checked. He’d done it before. Something like that was  _child’s play_ to Spock.

Pulling up the mental map of the Enterprise that Jim knew like the back of his hand, he ran over his options.

And grinned.

There was an out of the way nook and cranny down in engineering. It overlooked the main engineering room but was a complete blind spot for anyone who didn’t know it was there and even those who  _did_ had to  _force_ themselves to remember. Likely only Scotty, Keenser and Jaylah would think to check there if they were asked. However, Jaylah was off ship (she was an all too eager player of the game) and Scotty was busy, which meant Keenser was busy.

It also had a lighter gravity pocket than the rest of the ship, and that would relieve some of the pressure on Jim’s injuries.

Carefully plotting a circuitous route to avoid random encounters with the crew, with a brief (wincing) thought of using the crawlspaces and jeffries tubes instead, Jim made his way down there.

He had to duck his head and crawl to get into the space, but once there, he was instantly relieved. His feet didn’t leave the deck – the gravity shift wasn’t  _that_ big of a difference – but it was a welcome difference all the same.

Wedging himself at an angle that would let him look out over engineering, Jim settled himself against the wall and slid down to sit. Pretty soon, his eyes drooped and, despite the low-level ache in his ribs and the throbbing of his head, Jim fell asleep.

<<<<v^ v^ v^ v^ v^ v^ v^ v>>>>

He woke to murmuring and gentle fingers probing at his head. He blinked and swatted them away, only to have his hands caught in long, very warm,  _very_  familiar fingers. A combination of amusement and concern slipped over the bond, strengthening with the contact and Jim blinked again, looking up into Spock’s eyes.

He smiled. “Hey, Spock,” Jim slurred slightly.

“Jim,” Spock said. “It’s time to return to Sickbay, so that Leonard will stop panicking.”

“What about you?” Jim asked, standing up slowly with Spock’s assistance.

“I am worried, but your injuries do not appear to be worth panicking over, merely your actions in denying yourself treatment,” Spock said, his voice not allowing any of his disapproval to come out, but which Jim could  _feel_  quite easily.

“Everyone else first,” Jim insisted automatically, though he did feel a little guilty for evading the concern of his loved ones.

“Everyone else has been taken care of. All that remains is you,” Spock said, guiding Jim back out of the hiding space. Crawling back out of it was harder than coming in and Jim stood up on the other side with a breathless moan.

Spock raised a brow in a gesture that meant he understood Jim’s thoughts for his crew but that he needed to stop being stupid and to get his ass down to sickbay and get treated, which would incidentally, set Leonard’s mind to rest at the same time.

It was a very eloquent brow and Jim had had a few years and an insightful bond to teach him exactly how to read it.

“Okay, okay,” Jim said, raising his hands in surrender. “Take me to our doctor.”

They walked a few slow steps down the corridor before Jim said, “But, you gotta admit, that was a  _great_ spot, right?”

“Indeed,” Spock said dryly.

When they at last entered Sickbay, Jim felt the guilt swirling in his gut at the slumped over form of Leonard sitting by an empty biobed, obviously waiting for Jim. It was quickly apparent that he was exhausted, and Jim’s disappearing act had only further put off Leonard actually being done and able to get some rest.

His head shot up the second the doors opened, and Leonard was on his feet an instant later, marching straight over to Jim and pulling him – carefully – towards the bio-bed.

“Don’t even  _think_  about protesting,” Leonard groused. “You brought this on yourself.” The words were harsh but the relief behind them was clear and helped wash some of Jim’s guilt away. He meekly obeyed Leonard as he ordered Jim to lie down before setting to work.

Ten minutes later, Jim was smirking up at Leonard. “See, I told you I wasn’t so bad.”

“Hogwash. Head injuries are never anything to laugh at, Jim,” Leonard said. “Next time, don’t run away. If you must insist that we get to everyone else first, you need to at least hole up here, where we can at least have some equipment to keep an eye on you, just in case.”

“Really, Bones?” Jim said.

“I’m afraid that I must concur,” Spock said. “There may come a time when you may be hurt worse than it would first appear and precious time could be wasted if I have to hunt you down again. Let us save the games for when none of us are injured.”

Jim looked between Spock and Leonard, feeling their mutual tired concern and anxious determination coming through so clearly he knew now was not the time to be flippant. He nodded solemnly. “All right, I’m sorry for worrying you both.”

Leonard deflated visibly as he exhaled in relief, his eyes softening as he stared at Jim before giving in and taking his hand in a tight grip. Spock edged closer from the other side, the stark relief pulsing over the bond though he gave no outward appearance, his posture just as straight and proud as ever.

But he, too, reached for Jim’s hand, two fingers outstretched in a much gentler touch than Leonard’s.

By way of apology, Jim let his own love flow back out to them both and resolved to take better care of himself for  _their_ benefit. Seeing them worried was bad enough, he dreaded seeing them truly upset or angry or – god forbid – grief stricken.

If he could in any way prevent that, he would. It would be hard, out here on the edges of space. The unknown waited for them, and some of it would be dangerous and Jim would have to make decisions for the good of all, and think of himself last, but he swore to himself that he would do anything he could to make sure it didn’t come to that.

He loved them too much. So for them, he’d do what he wouldn’t do for himself.

**Author's Note:**

> heads up - i have handwaved the keenser and jaylah thing. i know that, unlike most of my star trek fics that are either aos specific or able to be read as either, this one is original series. but enough things happen the same or still, at least, get set in motion, and certain people still exist in both universes, that i figure that eventually, the original crew may also wind up with both keenser and jaylah on board eventually ;D


End file.
